Q I am currently working on a fantasy novel at my children's request. It is based on the stories I told them to get them to go to sleep more than a decade ago. I have let them preview the first 40 pages or so and they loved it. It’s not exactly unbiased criticism but I am proud to have fathered avid readers which was true in my family growing up as well.

Due to their reading, they have learned to be discriminating, so their opinions are not totally invalidated by the relationship. So many folks now just hit a button and let images feed their brains without any kind of filter and they seem to have little or no ability to assess anything with objectivity. 

Q. Often when writing I get to disappointed with the description of scenes, to the point where I get frustrated when everything else works except the description. How important it is when I feel comfortable with everything else?

Q. How can you get over what I call writer's freeze? I will have a scene played out in my head, but when I go to my computer, suddenly I freeze. Everything has either vanished in my head, or what I have in my head just doesn't come out on paper as envisioned and I become lost!

Q. If a character wants to be a Ghostbuster, how legal is it to have him/her wear a toy proton pack and constantly talk about the Ghostbusters? This doesn't break any laws, does it? Can I include a scene from the movie playing on a TV in the character’s room?